


Autumn

by AudrerAndJuck



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Autumn, Fluff, Football, Idiots in Love, Juck this is for you, M/M, Real Names, Secret Relationship, Self-Indulgent, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, its really cute, kissies :), sappy and karl are in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:28:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27386452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AudrerAndJuck/pseuds/AudrerAndJuck
Summary: Karl was freezing. Seven o’clock at night during late October was not a time that he wanted to be standing outside, but as a cheerleader he was required to attend all of the football games. Not that he wouldn’t have come anyways. His boyfriend was the star quarterback of the team.Nick, Karl’s secret boyfriend.***Sapnap and Karl are in love and it's great
Relationships: Karl Jacobs/Sapnap
Comments: 100
Kudos: 1476





	Autumn

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, Audrer again.  
> I'm here with some Karlnap fluff because the Karlnap tag is lacking.  
> Juck told me to write this for like two weeks so here we are.  
> It's just a oneshot full of Sappy and Karl being cute cause that is what I need in my life.  
> Enjoy! :)
> 
> (italics are flashbacks/normal text is the present)

Karl was freezing. Seven o’clock at night during late October was not a time that he wanted to be standing outside, but as a cheerleader he was required to attend all of the football games. Not that he wouldn’t have come anyways. His boyfriend was the star quarterback of the team. Nick, Karl’s secret boyfriend.

Karl scanned the field and saw Nick talking to some of his teammates, Clay and Luke, he realized after taking a closer look at the orange numbers on the back of their black jerseys. Clay was Nick’s best friend and even he didn’t know about Nick and Karl. Karl thought that it was a little exciting to be part of a secret relationship, though part of him was tired of pretending. Not being able to so much as hold his boyfriend’s hand was saddening to say the very least. 

It was a bit of a cliche, a football player dating a cheerleader, apart from the fact that they were both guys. Karl lived in the small conservative town of Manberg. He and Nick had both agreed months ago, when they first got together, that it would probably be for the best if they didn’t tell anyone, even their friends. Karl was sure that their close friends, like Clay, George, and Luke, wouldn’t have any problems with him and Nick dating, but it was just safer this way. They didn’t want to deal with the stupid opinions of their peers or people in the town. Their relationship was theirs —special.

Tonight’s game was the playoffs. Manberg had gone undefeated the whole season, and they were hoping to preserve their record. The whole school had been buzzing all week about the game. Karl smiled as he thought about how excited Nick had been the past few days. 

Karl was the only boy on the sideline cheer team. Well…sort of. There was one other guy, Finn, but he dressed relatively feminine most of the time. Anyone sitting in the bleachers would assume Finn was a girl at first glance. Karl didn’t mind being a guy on the cheer team. He thought it was fun and didn’t see why it was considered a “girl sport” by most people. He thought throwing people in the air, which the cheerleaders did a lot of, made for a pretty good time.

“Karl!” Karl was ripped out of his thoughts by Niki, another cheerleader, calling his name. She shook her orange and black pom poms in his face to get his attention. “Stop staring off into space, silly. It’s kickoff time.”

Karl turned to face the field where Nick, Clay, Luke, and the rest of the team were getting ready for the start of the game. Karl smiled.

_ You got this, Nick. _

***

_ Karl was on his way to his first cheer practice. The cheer team was relatively small this year. Very few incoming freshmen had joined the team. Karl had received a text from Niki, the head cheerleader, a week prior asking if he would be willing to join the team. She told him that she had tried to get her boyfriend, Wilbur, to join, but he had declined. Karl had responded with a ‘why not?’ and now here he was.  _

_ Karl stepped into the locker room and saw his friends, Clay and Luke, as well as a handful of other people, already there. The football players had just finished a practice and were getting changed to leave. _

_ Karl changed his clothes and shoved his bag into his locker. He wondered where Nick was since he was also on the football team. Karl had secretly hoped to run into him today. He closed his locker and turned around. Karl was one of the few people left in the locker room, most of the football players having gone home, and he assumed that he had missed Nick. He was a little disappointed but resolved to text him after cheer practice.  _

_ Karl propped one of his feet on a bench and laced up his tennis shoes. Just as he finished tying them he heard a door open behind him. He could hear the faint dripping of water and assumed that someone was just leaving the showers. What he hadn’t accounted for was the fact that he knew the person leaving. _

_ Karl turned to leave for practice when he was met with familiar brown eyes. Nick stood in front of him, completely shirtless, water droplets falling occasionally from his wet hair. He held a towel in one hand. Karl sucked in a breath. His eyes traveled down his boyfriend’s torso, tracing the lines of his figure. He took in every inch of his body—the shape of his arms, the curve of his stomach. Nick shook his wet hair a little bit and ran a hand through it to push it back. Karl’s heart did a little flip. _

_ “Hey,” Nick said after a moment. Karl blinked and looked up at him. He had a knowing smirk on his face and Karl wanted to slap it right off of him—lovingly of course. _

_ “Hey,” Karl said breathlessly. He looked down for a moment, embarrassed and red faced. Nick seemed to revel in the fact that Karl had been staring, as Karl heard him let out a small laugh. _

_ “Hey!” Karl jumped as a third voice piped up. He turned to his right and saw Clay casually leaning against a locker. Karl felt his face heat up even more than it had before. “Nice job at practice today, Sap.” _

_ Karl saw Nick glance back at him for a moment before replying to Clay. “Thanks. You too, man.” Karl watched as Nick walked over to his own locker and retrieved a grey t-shirt which he promptly tugged over his head. Karl didn’t know if he was disappointed or relieved. _

_ “Um… I better go now.” Karl stammered, not making eye contact with either of the two boys. “I’ll be late for practice if I don’t. Good seeing you both. Okay, bye now!” Karl rushed out of the locker room as quickly as he could. Before he could shut the door behind himself completely he heard Clay’s confused voice ask, ‘what’s up with him?’ _

_ Karl let out a breath and quickly made his way to practice. Thank God Clay hadn’t noticed his reaction to Nick. That would have been a hard thing to talk his way out of. _

*** 

Nick was breathing heavily. He leaned over and put his hands on his knees in an attempt to catch his breath. He was grateful that it was cold outside. He would be miserable if it were warm. It was the end of the first quarter. Manberg’s team was up by seven points. He took his helmet off to breathe a little easier and his hair flopped into his face. He pushed it back and scanned the sidelines for his boyfriend.

Nick saw Karl over by the fence that surrounded the field, holding Niki’s pom poms for her as she left to get some water. He was talking to George, who stood on the opposite side of the fence, sipping on a hot chocolate from the concessions stand. Karl was giggling at something George said, his whole face lighting up. Karl’s cheeks were dusted pink from the cold and Nick felt warmer inside at the sight. Nick stood up straight and smiled. Karl was really cute—really  _ really  _ cute. He ached to go over to him and tell him that, but he was supposed to be paying attention to the game. Of course, he wouldn’t be able to tell him now anyways, since their relationship was a secret after all. Nick was sad that he couldn’t openly love his boyfriend. He didn’t know how much longer he could keep up the act. Probably not much longer, he guessed, with Karl looking like  _ that _ .

“Sap! You’re in!” Nick tore his eyes away from Karl and realized that it was his coach that he heard shouting. Nick nodded and pulled back on his helmet. He had a playoff game to win.

He glanced back at Karl one last time and realized that Karl was looking back at him. Karl held up Niki’s pom poms and cheered as Nick ran onto the field. He could faintly hear Karl chanting, “Who’s a nimrod? Sap’s a nimrod!” He smiled to himself.

***

_ Manberg was a small town with only a handful of places to hang out or get food. One of those few places was Nick’s favorite cafe. It was cloudy and windy and Nick was grateful that he had listened when Karl had told him to bring a jacket. Nick walked alongside Karl, enjoying the comfortable silence, only a few blocks away from the coffee shop. Nick felt his fingers brush against Karl’s as they were walking and ached to hold his hand. He knew that it would entirely give away their secret to anyone nearby so he held himself back. He made eye contact with Karl and saw in his eyes that he was probably thinking the same thing, but if they could last the past four months they could last a few more blocks to the cafe. _

_ Nick opened the door and he remembered why he wanted to come here so badly in the first place. Fall was the best time to go to a coffee shop. Nick loved how it smelled of cinnamon and pumpkin and apples. Karl seemed excited too, but after Nick ordered himself his autumnal coffee, Karl simply asked for a cup of whipped cream with sprinkles, all while smiling like a child. Nick laughed at the weird look the barista gave his boyfriend and they found their way to a booth in the corner of the shop. _

_ They sat down at the booth facing one another. Nick was still cold from the walk so he got up to sit on the same side of the booth as Karl. Karl looked at him, slightly confused. Nick reached out and took Karl’s hand in his underneath the table like he had wanted to do on the walk to the shop. Karl looked up at him, his confusion now replaced by a warm smile. Nick had to stop himself from unconsciously leaning against Karl. They could wait until they went home for that. _

_ Nick heard the barista call their names and was saddened that he had to give up the warmth of Karl’s hand in his.  _

_ After they got their drink and whipped cream cup they walked back to Karl’s house. Nick was about to step up on the porch when he was assaulted from behind with an armful of leaves. Nick turned around and faced Karl who was backing away and laughing like a goofball. _

_ “Oh, it is  _ on _.” Nick said in a low voice. He set down his empty drink on the porch and chased Karl through the yard. “You’re a dead man, Jacobs!” _

_ “Oh, using last names now are we?” Karl was laughing as he ran away. “I’m  _ so _ scared,” he taunted. Karl scooped another armful of leaves off the ground and flung them at Nick. Nick swiped at them with his hand in an attempt to deflect them but he ended up causing them to go everywhere. Karl was laughing harder now. _

_ Nick sprung forward and tackled Karl to the ground. Karl should’ve known better than to provoke a football player. _

_ “I win!” Nick declared breathlessly from on top of Karl. Nick saw Karl blush and realized the position they were in. He smirked and raised his eyebrows at his boyfriend under him, earning an eye roll from Karl. Nick rolled over to lie beside Karl in the leaves. _

_ “You deserved it, still.” Karl said. Nick reached over and dropped a handful of leaves on Karl’s face. Karl retaliated by sitting up and throwing leaves back at him.  _

_ Nick laughed at him, brushing himself off. “You have leaves in your hair.” _

_ Karl shook his head and ran his fingers through his fluffy hair. “Is it gone?” _

_ “No,” Nick said, sitting up. “Here, let me get it.” Nick reached up and gently pulled a leaf from the left side of Karl’s head. The mood instantly changed from playful to something else. He could feel Karl’s gaze on him as he slowly brushed his fingers through Karl’s hair. Nick let his hand come to rest on the side of Karl’s face and looked into his grey eyes. He saw Karl glance down at his lips for a moment and took that as a sign of confirmation. _

_ Nick leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to Karl’s lips. It wasn’t anything intense, there wasn’t any urgency behind it. The kiss was soft and sweet. Nick could taste the sugar of the whipped cream on Karl’s lips from earlier and smiled. _

_ The kiss was short lived, however, as Karl then decided to throw another handful of leaves at Nick. Nick rolled his eyes and brushed himself off again. “Wow,” Nick said sarcastically. “That’s what I get for kissing you?” _

_ “Yep,” Karl giggled. Karl tackled Nick to the ground in a hug, burying his face in Nick’s chest. Nick smiled and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, pressing his face into Karl’s hair. Despite the scratchiness of the leaves, he was content to lie there as long as Karl was with him. _

*** 

Karl liked halftime. He thought the marching shows that the band did were fun to watch and listen to. It was also a nice break from all of the shouting that cheerleading involved. He was always worried about losing his voice at football games.

Karl watched from the sidelines as the band marched onto the field. They usually played a few different pop songs for their halftime shows. The band started to play their first song and Karl recognized the familiar trumpet solo from the song  _ Cheerleader _ . Karl did a small dance in place along with the song when he heard someone clear their throat next to him.

Karl turned and saw Nick smiling at him as he pulled off his football helmet. His hair flopped into his eyes and he pushed it back. Karl refused to acknowledge how attractive he was—at least for right now. Nick started to sing along to the marching band’s playing. He pointed at Karl and did a silly dance around him singing, “ _ Oh, I think that I’ve found myself a cheerleader _ .” Karl giggled as Nick sang, slightly off key at times though Karl found it endearing.

“Oh my God, Nick” Karl rolled his eyes even though he had the biggest smile on his face. “You’re actually such a nimrod.” Nick laughed momentarily while he sang. He danced over to Niki and traded his helmet for her pom poms, shaking and waving them along with the music. Karl laughed at his boyfriend and his silly show he was putting on.

Karl wasn’t worried about people being suspicious or finding out about their relationship because of Nick and his singing. Nick had made a reputation for himself as an affectionate friend—‘homiesexual’ as Clay called it. If anyone saw him and Nick they would just chalk it up to Nick’s ‘homiesexuality.’ The thought put Karl at ease yet simultaneously made his stomach clench. He wished he didn’t have to pretend they were just good friends.

The song ended and the band proceeded on to their next songs. Nick gave Niki her pom poms back and started walking back to the group where the football players were all congregated. He blew a kiss at Karl as he pulled his helmet back on. Karl shook his head and smiled at the ground. 

***

_ Late night drives were one of Karl’s favorite things to do with Nick. The back roads that snaked through Manberg and the other nearby towns were surrounded by mainly trees and fields. No people or other cars to be seen. They could drive as fast or as slow as they wanted. Nothing really mattered during their 1:00 a.m. drives. _

_ Nothing mattered except Nick. Nick and his blinding smiles and his genuine laughs. His jokes and his stories and his fingers that interlaced with Karl’s. Some drives were louder and some drives were quieter. Tonight was one of the louder ones. _

_ “ _ We’re soarin’! _ ” _

_ “ _ Flyin’! _ ” _

_ “ _ There’s not a star in heaven that we can’t reach! _ ” _

_ Karl and Nick we’re having a late night High School Musical karaoke session per Karl’s request. They had turned the speakers in Nick’s car to the loudest volume and were belting Troy and Gabriella’s duet at the top of their lungs. They didn’t care about wrong notes or voice cracks or anything other than having fun. Karl gestured wildly and danced in his seat. Nick kept at least one of his hands on the steering wheel but sang with the same enthusiasm. _

_ This was one of the things Karl loved about Nick. He always put his heart into everything he did. Karl looked over at him. He was smiling and his eyes were shining. Nick licked his lips between lines of the song and Karl’s eyes lingered there a moment too long. Karl breathed out and trained his eyes on the road. There hadn’t been any houses nearby for a few minutes. The road was surrounded by open fields and grass.  _

_ The song ended and the next one on their shuffled High School Musical playlist began playing— _ Can I Have This Dance _. Karl liked the song, so he was sad when Nick paused the music. _

_ “What’s going on?” Karl looked over at Nick, confused, as Nick pulled the car over next to a clearing between some trees. Nick opened the car door. _

_ “Come on,” Nick said, climbing out of the car. Karl did as he was told and stepped out onto the grass.  _

_ He looked up and saw the most gorgeous night sky he had ever seen. It was a completely clear night and they were far enough away from the town that there was no light pollution. Karl could see thousands of stars shining and the moon casting a brilliant silver glow over the landscape. He hardly blinked, not wanting to miss a second of this night. It was so peaceful and quiet. He breathed in the fresh air, never wanting to leave this place. _

_ Karl heard music playing from the car again. He broke his eyes away from the stars and saw Nick, hand outstretched, smiling bashfully. Karl stifled an excited squeal by biting his lip. He knew he must have the stupidest grin on his face but he didn’t care—not in front of Nick. _

_ “Karl,” Nick said. “Can I have this—” _

_ “Yes, Nick, yes.” Karl all but ran into Nick’s arms. Nick laughed at Karl’s enthusiasm. Karl felt Nick place his hands on his waist, and followed by draping his around Nick’s shoulders.  _

_ They swayed along to the music. The moon lit up Nick’s face making him look silvery and ethereal. His deep brown eyes were shining but in a different way than they were when he was singing in the car. His gaze was calmer now, warmer, more loving. Karl could feel his face heat up but he didn’t look down or try to hide his blushing. He didn’t need to right now. _

_ Being alone with Nick like this was like a breath of fresh air. He felt like he always had to have his guard up in public, always worrying about what people might think about them. He didn’t have the same freedom that other people had. He couldn’t love Nick the way that he wanted to. _

_ Now—under the cover of darkness, on a gorgeous night, in a meadow, far away from anyone else, any eyes that could be watching—Karl could love his boyfriend the way he wanted to. _

_ Karl looked into Nick’s eyes. He glanced down at his lips and back up again, silently asking permission. Nick smiled and leaned in, closing the gap between them. _

_ Nick’s lips felt like fire against Karl’s. He closed his eyes and leaned forward to return the kiss and Karl knew that he never wanted to part from Nick. Not to eat or to sleep or to breathe because that meant he wouldn’t be feeling Nick’s soft lips against his. He wouldn’t be feeling the slight tickle from Nick’s stubble against his face. He only wanted to focus on Nick. The rest of the world and all of the stupid opinions of their little conservative town didn’t matter— _

_ Because Karl was in love with Nick. _

_ Karl pulled away slowly and wrapped himself around his boyfriend, slotting his face into the crook of Nick’s neck. Karl felt Nick wrap his arms around him tighter and he silently willed him to never let go. Karl breathed in deeply and smiled. Nick smelled of warmth and happiness and safety and everything good in the world—Karl couldn’t describe it any other way. _

_ Karl hummed along to the end of the song. Karl waited for another song to start playing from the car but was only met with silence, it must have been the end of the playlist. Karl didn’t mind, though. He was perfectly happy to listen to Nick’s heartbeat and hold him close for just a little while longer before they would have to drive back home. _

***

Nick was stressed. Manberg’s team was down twenty-one points at the end of the third quarter. It wasn’t something that would be impossible to come back from, but he could feel the tension in the air as the team tried to regain their lost ground. Clay was pacing back and forth, hyping himself up by shouting encouraging things at himself. Nick would have laughed at him if he hadn’t been silently doing the same thing. He took off his helmet for a moment and ran a hand through his hair. Then, Nick felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and saw Karl smiling worriedly at him.

“Hey, Sap,” Karl said, pulling him aside. “How’s it going out there?”

Nick sighed. “Could be better—a lot better actually.” Karl reached out to place a hand on Nick’s shoulder reassuringly before he thought better of it and let his hand fall again.

“Listen,” Karl said earnestly, “I don’t know a whole lot about football, but it doesn’t take a genius to see that you’re doing really great out there.” He smiled and Nick felt his heart melt. Karl had the cutest smile. He could stare at him all day and never grow tired of it.

“Thanks, Karl.” Nick smiled halfheartedly. “I just don’t know if it’s enough to win.”

“Nick,” Karl looked into his eyes. “You can do this. We win these, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Nick said, a bit happier and more at ease now. “We win these.” Karl smiled again, seeming happy that he was able to cheer his boyfriend up. Nick was grateful to have him.

Karl started to turn back towards the cheerleaders. “You got this, ba—” He paused and his eyes went wide at his own near slip up. He closed his eyes and shook his head quickly. “—bro.” Karl corrected himself and Nick laughed. He didn’t think anyone was close enough to hear if Karl  _ had _ accidentally called him ‘baby,’ but Karl’s reaction was the funniest thing he had seen all night.

As Karl turned to leave, Nick saw him mouth ‘ _ I love you _ .’ Nick felt his heart swell. He would win this game for Karl—or at the very least he’d give his all and hope for the best.

“Hey, Sapnap!” Nick heard Clay’s voice call from behind him. “Stop drooling over the cheerleaders and get over here! We have a game to win!”

Nick smiled to himself.

_ If only you knew. _

*** 

_ Clay’s basement was the ultimate hangout place. There was a dark colored sectional couch at the back of the room and two large blue bean bags on the floor in front of it. Clay had hooked a projector up on the ceiling and it was plugged into a TV on the side of the room so they could play games and watch movies on the giant screen. He had a foosball table and his parents were really laid back, so his house was the obvious hangout spot for the friend group.  _

_ Nick sat on one of the bean bags, Karl on the other one. Clay, George, and Luke all sat on the couch. The five of them were all at Clay’s house playing Super Smash Bros on the big screen. Nick had tied with Karl and they were going into a sudden death match. _

_ “You’re dead, Jacobs.” Nick was going to absolutely destroy Karl. He prided himself on being the best Smash player of the group. His eyebrows furrowed in focus, his eyes never leaving the screen. _

_ “Aw,” Karl whined. He turned and gave Nick sad, pleading eyes. “You wouldn’t kill me would you, Sappy Nappy?” _

_ Nick immediately felt his face warm up and he knew he was going red. He was lucky the basement lights were off so they’d be able to see the projector screen clearly or else the other guys would notice his blushing. He became flustered enough at Karl’s stupid nickname for him that Karl used his Kirby’s hammer to throw Nick’s Peach off the map, winning the round. _

_ “Wow, Nick,” Clay said with a smirk and raised eyebrows. He crossed his arms. “You’re really simping for Karl if you let him beat you at Smash.”  _

_ “Shut up,” Nick scoffed. “I am not a simp. Especially not for Karl.” Karl giggled next to him. He knew exactly what he had done. Nick rolled his eyes at his secret boyfriend. _

_ “You so are!” Luke laughed. “You’re fucking Simpnap right now.” Nick groaned and buried his face in the bean bag as George and Luke started chanting ‘Simpnap’ and Clay wheezed. _

_ Nick played games with his friends until it was very late at night. Eventually they all decided they were too tired to play and put on a random Netflix movie. The movie wasn’t anything interesting, just some background noise while they talked. Soon enough they drifted off into silence. _

_ Nick, still awake, glanced around at his friends. Clay, George, and Luke were illuminated dimly by the projector screen. Nick could see that they had all fallen asleep sprawled out across the couch. He looked to his left at Karl. Nick could see the outline of his figure on the bean bag he lay on. His eyes were shadowed just enough by his hair that Nick couldn’t tell if he was awake or asleep. He was lying on his side, facing Nick, one of his arms slightly outstretched. It was almost as if Karl was reaching out to him. Nick reached out from the bean bag he lay on. From the distance he was at he was just barely able to brush Karl’s fingers with his own. _

_ Nick smiled lovingly at his boyfriend. His hair had flopped onto his face and over his eyes and Nick longed to brush it away, to run his fingers through Karl’s fluffy hair. Karl was the prettiest boy Nick had ever seen. There was just something about him that made Nick’s heart do a flip whenever he saw him.  _

_ Karl stirred after a moment. He stretched his limbs out and noticed the fingers that were half intertwined with his own. He brushed his hair out of his face and smiled sleepily once he saw Nick. Nick felt like he was going to explode. Karl was just so  _ perfect _. _

_ “Hey,” Nick whispered. Karl shushed him tiredly. Nick watched Karl slump back down into the bean bag, their fingers still brushing. Karl shivered after a moment and glanced back up at Nick, visibly considering something. Nick watched as Karl stood up slowly and walked over to Nick, standing over him. Nick laughed quietly. “What are you—” Karl cut him off with more shushing. Nick held up his hands in resignation. If Karl didn’t want him to talk then he wouldn’t talk. _

_ Nick held out his arms, a silent invitation for Karl to snuggle up next to him. Karl lied down in his arms, resting his head on Nick's chest. Nick hadn’t realized how cold he was until he felt the warmth from Karl. He felt Karl wrap his arms around him. Nick reached to the side of the couch and managed to grab a thin blanket that the others weren’t using. He laid it across himself and Karl before wrapping his arms around Karl’s waist and holding him tightly against him. _

_ Nick relaxed his head against Karl’s hair and hummed contently. Karl looked up at him. Nick could just barely make out a soft smile on his lips. He leaned down and kissed Karl softly on the forehead. Karl let out a quiet giggle and Nick nearly melted there on the spot. He moved his free arm up to play with Karl’s hair.  _

_ Nick couldn’t believe how lucky he was. The likelihood of finding someone like Karl, much less in a small place like Manberg, was next to impossible. He couldn’t stop staring at the cute boy in his arms. _

_ Nick let his hand fall from Karl’s hair down to cup his face. “I—” Nick was silenced for a third time by Karl’s insistent shushing. Karl was looking up at him sleepily. It was obvious that he was fighting to keep his eyes open. Nick rolled his eyes and shook his head at his stupidly lovable boyfriend, deciding that Karl was right. Words weren’t necessary right now, and they would probably just wake up their sleeping friends. He moved his hand back to Karl’s waist and relaxed against him. Karl rested his head back on Nick’s chest. _

I love you, Karl.

*** 

The score was too close for comfort. Manberg was only four points behind their opponent. Karl was nervous. There was only a minute left on the clock, meaning that Manberg had one minute to score another touchdown if they wanted to win the playoff game.

Karl continued to cheer with the rest of the cheerleading team, but it was obvious that the team was losing faith with every passing second. The crowd slowly started to accept defeat as the clock neared zero. Karl was more upset because Nick and his friends would be sad than because of the actual outcome of the game. If they lost the playoff game then this would be their last game of the year, ending their season. It was their senior year, so this could very well be Nick’s last game of his high school career.

Karl resigned himself to facing the crowd as the game concluded. He didn’t want to see the defeat on Nick’s face when they lost.

Suddenly the crowd exploded into yelling and cheering. Karl whipped his head around and saw someone from Manberg’s team sprinting down the field, ball in hand, with six seconds left on the clock. He couldn’t make out their number so he didn’t know who it was, but he cheered loudly with the crowd.

The player sprinted past all of the other team’s players, evading them with an urgency that was pretty understandable in this situation. They made it to the end of the field scoring a touchdown right as the buzzer sounded, signifying the end of the game. The crowd erupted into even more cheers. The player that scored the touchdown was surrounded by the rest of the Manberg players, jumping and yelling and celebrating. 

Karl couldn’t stop smiling. He paused as he faintly heard from the announcer’s booth over the crowd, “Manberg player, Nick Armstrong, scores the winning touchdown! Manberg wins the playoffs!”

Karl’s eyes went wide and his mouth hung open as the information processed in his mind. He turned to Niki and practically jumped up and down. “Nick won! Nick won the game!” He squealed and ran out onto the field. Now that the game was over the people on the sidelines flooded out onto the field to congratulate the players. Karl looked around the field at all of the people, trying to find Nick. 

Karl turned and saw Nick running at him from a handful of meters away. Nick practically ripped his helmet off as he rushed over to Karl. “Nick!” Karl shouted excitedly as Nick grew closer. “You—”

He was cut off when Nick pulled him in and pressed his lips to Karl’s. Karl stood rigid for a second. This was their relationship that they never told anyone about. This was their secret, but in the heat of the moment Karl couldn’t bring himself to care. He had waited far too long for this.

Karl reached up and tangled his fingers in Nick’s messy hair, pulling him even closer. Nick was kissing him as if he was drowning and Karl was his only way of getting fresh air. It was like people around them were suddenly muffled and everything stopped existing apart from the two of them. Karl felt Nick smile against his mouth and pulled back just enough to see his face.

“Did you see that?” Nick asked as if he hadn’t just kissed him in front of everyone in Manberg. He wore the brightest smile Karl had ever seen. Karl wished he could take a picture of this moment and keep it forever. “Did you see my touchdown?”

“Yes, I did,” Karl laughed. Nick pulled him in for another kiss. This one was shorter but just as intense. Nick pulled back and stared at Karl for a moment.

“I love you, Karl Jacobs.” Nick said breathlessly. His voice sent shivers down Karl’s spine in the best possible way.

“Nick, I—” Karl stuttered for a moment, unable to get any other words out. He gave up on speaking and instead pressed their lips together again, hoping that the words came through better this way instead.

_ I love you, Nick Armstrong. _

“Damn, Sap, if I knew you liked guys I would’ve tried harder to tap that.” Karl heard Clay’s voice and laughed, knowing that he was only joking. Nick let go of Karl to go punch Clay in the arm. A minute later Nick returned to Karl and Karl saw Clay rubbing his arm a few feet away.

Karl couldn’t stop smiling. He didn’t think he’d ever stop smiling. Never again would he have to pretend not to love his boyfriend. The whole town knew now, and somehow Karl knew that everything would be okay. 

He looked over at Nick who was staring back at him. His eyes were shining. Karl’s heart pounded in his chest.

_ Yeah. _

_ Everything would be okay. _

**Author's Note:**

> I've never written shipping/romance before so i hope i did Sappy and Karl justice :)  
> Should I write more stuff like this? I really enjoyed writing it so I probably will anyways. Fluff is my shit ngl.  
> Leave a kudos,,, or a comment,,, if you wanna idk,,,,  
> Love you guys, thanks for reading! :)  
> President president


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